Music – Ninaivelam Neeyada

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Ninaivelam Neeyada is a new tamil film, which has music by Ilaiyaraaja (Raaja). These are some thoughts I wrote after listening to the album 3 times, to get a sense of where it stands among the recent offerings by Ilaiyaraaja.

  1. Minnal Pookkum: This falls into Raaja’s canon of countless Mohanam based songs. The graph of the song follows like a slower version of Un Idhazhgalinaal from Margazhi Thingal (in 2023), sans the verve the latter carried. But this one is placed more in a placid mood, almost harking back to the beautiful Oh Unnaale Naan from 90s. Also, thankfully Raaja gave this song to Karthik (why thank, you ask? read on) – who brings in a mature and well-rounded rendition the melody deserves. The arrangements too, while electronic, are soft complementing the mood.
  2. Vanna Varaikolkal: The twists in the melody are interesting but they are fully marred and jarred by the over-the-top electronic beats, which rush the song. There are moments in the song where the sudden absence of beats and arrangements allows us to appreciate the melody a bit. But still, this is a case of “what a nice song this could have been”.
  3. Vechen Naan: The thing with throwbacks to 80s in the new songs of Ilaiyaraaja is that – it reinforces the myth that his elemental zone was limited to only 80s; and I am not a fan of that myth. Raaja has a certain mould when it comes to the keywords “tamil nadu village”, “rustic”, “folk” etc. And my gripe is – he has produced a staggering number of songs in this mould, that there is nothing new anymore, rhythm pattern changes and a few funky synth punctuations not withstanding.
  4. Azhagaana Isai: The composition sounds like it is from Imman’s stable. “But Imman’s songs sound like Raaja’s style” – you say? That’s the point. A discerning listener can list out the differences between a regular Raaja song and a raaja-song-like-Imman-song. Azhagaana is like Raaja doing an Imman. I’d be fine if Imman does it. But not if Raaja himself does it.
  5. Idhayame: This is yet another case of “what a nice song this could have been”, if not for Yuvan Shankar Raaja as the lead male singer. With a more able singer like Karthik or Haricharan, this song would have been much more palpable and intense – something the melody really asks for. But Yuvan butchers every line bringing the song down by notches and notches, and you are left wondering: “Why Raaja? And couldn’t you give us another version by a proper singer?”. Popular opinion about auto-tune software might be divided, but I am a huge proponent of it, when I listen to songs like these.

The (or rather my only) best song of the album is “Minnal Pookkum“. This song will have longevity, at least in my personal playlist. Ilaiyaraaja’s genius doesn’t need any new validation today. But I wish he collaborates more with filmmakers who can inspire or nudge him in new directions, where his still-thriving creativity could produce music that’s novel.

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